Self sharpening safety razor



Oct. 30, 1934. P. cooK ET AL SELF SHARPENING SAFETY RAZOR Filed Feb. 13,1952 PAUL COOK PAUL P. COOK INVENTORS. may

ATTORNEY Patented Oct. 30, 1934 A 3 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 5Claims.

This invention relates to razors and it refers more particularly todevices of that character known as self sharpening safety razors. Thepresent invention is in the nature of an improve- 5 ment upon the razordescribed and illustrated in United States Patent No. 1,681,466, issuedon August 21, 1928, and which is characterized by the inclusion thereinof an abrasive roller and a pivoted blade holder adapted to be releasedfrom shaving position so that incident to a back and forth rollingaction of the roller over a superficiary, the opposite side edges of theblade will be brought against the roller for sharpening.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a sharpening rollerof an improved form of construction especially with reference to theformation of the roller shell, in the provision of grooves in the shellfor containing strips of an abrasive material by which the blades aresharpened, and of the arrangement of the strips to provide a one pointcontact of blade with the abrasive material.

Another object is toprovide an improved form of blade holder whichfacilitates the insertion and .25 removal of blades, which firmly andsafely retains invention, we have provided the improved details ofconstruction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, wherein- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the razorin which the guard is released from the blade holder as for sharpeningand the holder is in position for removal of the blade.

Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view in a plane perpendicular to the axis ofthe roller; this view showing the blade holder and guard set forshaving. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the sharpening roller with itsmounting shaft partly withdrawn therefrom.

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the blade.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the blade holder and blade in assembledrelation. Q

Fig. 6 is a front end view of the razor head and showing an alternativemeans for rotating the abrasive roller.

Fig. 7 is a sectional detail of a part of the device of Fig. 6.

Referring more in detail to the several views of the drawingi The razor,as illustrated in its entirety in Figs. 1 and 2, embodies a handleportion 1 provided at one end with a threaded stud 2 whereby the handlemay be securely, yet removably attached to a frame of a yoke likecharacter comprising a flat base bar 3 with laterally turned oppositeend portions providing mounting jaws 4 and 4d pe tweenwhich the roller,the guard, the blade holder, are mounted as will presently be described,this frame is of metal of a slightly resilient character to facilitateassembly of parts, yet has ample rigidity to insure an eflicient anddurable mechanism.

The type of blade employed is that illustrated in Figure 4 and itcomprises a flat piece of metal 5 sharpened along one longitudinal edge,as at 5,or on both edges. The opposite ends are arouately rounded, asillustrated, to facilitate insertion or removal from the holder, and inits opposite end edges are notches 6 and 6a. The notches are equallyspaced from the sharpened edge of the blade so as to provide properalignment of the blade when it is assembled in the holder. The locationand shape of notches may be varied according to location and form of thestuds on the blade holder described hereinafter. For a double edgedblade the openings of the blade would be on a center line and studsplaced accordingly.

The blade holder consists of a spring metal plate 13 folded upon itselfto provide opposed faces adapted to yieldingly grip the blade when it isinserted between them. One face of the holder designated as the outerface, covers substantially all of one side surface of the blade, leavingthe sharpened edge only exposed. The other face of the holder designatedas the inner face, overlies the other side surface of the blade and itis formed with oppositely extending arms 13a.13b for pressing againstopposite ends of the blade to hold it firmly against the outer face ofthe holder. These arms are separated from the body of the plate bynotches or slots 1414a extending thereinto from opposite side edges,thus providing that the arms under pressure may bend away from the outerface of the holder. At the outer ends of the arms are short pivots 8-811rotatable within openings 8' and 8" provided respectively in the jawseand 4a of the frame to mount the holder and permit the rotation thereofessential to reversing the assembly for sharpening both sides of blade,the dotted circle 5a and the dotted lines 5b and 5c in Fig. 2 showingthe blade movement. A small pinion gear 9 is fixed on the pivot 8a. foreffecting the rotative action as will be set forth hereinafter.

Lugs 12-12a are provided at opposite ends of the arms 13a and 13b whichare curved outward from the face of the clip to aid in inserting theblade and which also interlock in the guard, as presently described, tohold the parts in proper relation for shaving. Studs 11 and 11a are alsoprovidedat the opposite ends of the arms 13a and 131). which projectinward and are designed to seat within the notches of the blade to holdit in 8-8a of the bar mounted in the jaws of the frame and theparts'adjusted to the position,"as shown in Fig. 1, should downwardpressure be applied against the central portion or bridge 130 of theinner face of the blade holder, the arms 13a and 1327 will yield and theouter face or.jaw'lof the holder will be moved down and away from thepivot supported ends of the arms 13a and 1319, thus releasing itsholding pressure against the blade, and permit the blade to be pushedfrom the studs 11 and 11a, as illustrated in dotted lines on Fig. 5. Theblade will then be released from the projections of the holder and maybe dropped or withdrawn therefrom; Likewise, when the holder isthusdepressed, a blade may be inserted within the holder and, on releasingthe pressure on the bridge of the holder, the arms will again springtoward the outer face and the. studs 11-110; will be projected into theend notches 6-611 of the blade to hold it in the interlocked relationfor sharpening or shaving.

The blade holder with blade secured therein is held in. positionforshaving, as in Fig. 2, by a blade guard which, in Fig. 1, is shown ina position released. from the holder to permit the necessary action ofthe holder for sharpening the blade. This guardcomprises a strip ofmetal'or othersuitable material, provided at its opposite ends with legs2l-21 having pivots 22-22 seated within openings 22 in the jaws 4-40. topivotally mount the guard so that it may swing from and against theblade holder. The outer longitudinal tion of the guard is a thumb piece23 by which the guard is adjusted into and from shaving position. It iscurved outwardly to overlie the'handie, and in a manner to bearyieldingly against the edge of the base or cross bar of the frame, as inFig. 2, thus to serve as a spring catch which, by reason of itsparticular shaping, operates to yieldingly hold the guard against theblade holder for shaving, or to hold the guard free and clear of theblade and holder for sharpening. When in shaving position, the toothededge of the guard rests against the sharpened edge of the blade, asshown in full lines in Fig.2, but when it'is adjusted to position forsharpening, it assumes the dotted line position 20a, thus being clear ofthe path of rotation of the blade designated by the dotted circle 5a inFig. 2. When the guard is adjusted against the holder for shaving, itsmove- I ment is limited by-reason of projections 24a at its oppositeends coming into contactwith the pointed end portions 4b of the jaws4-4a of the frame, Also, there is an interlocking between the guard andthe blade holder 13 by reason of the projecting ends 12-12:; of theholder seating behind the shouldersor notches 240 provided in the guardto receive them. I

The sharpening means provided within the razor for sharpening the bladecomprises a cylindrical roller 30, which, in a preferred form, comprisesa cylindrical metal shell having one or more helical grooves 31 formedlengthwise therein. Preferably-there would be three of such grooves, asin Fig. 3, with strips 32 of an abrasive material removably disposedtherein, so that they may be scrapes changed or turned when such isdesired, without necessitating the removal of the roller from its framefor this purpose. leather, metal or other suitable material, and may bepermanently or removably secured to the roller.

In its prefererd form, the roller shell would be of a thin spring metaland the base walls of the several grooves would be symmetrically spacedabout the axis of the shell and would provide a central passage 33 and ayielding bearing surface conforming to an axial shaft 34 by which theroller is mounted in the frame. The shaft, as shown, is provided withmounting trunnions 35 at its ends rotatably contained in openings 35 inthe jaws ll-4a permitting rotation of the shaft.

The pitch of the grooves about the roller should be sufiicient thatduring a sharpening operation, as the end of one abrasive strip passesfrom contact with the blade at one end, the next srtip will comeinto'cont'act with the blade at its other end, thus to provide contactby the blade with but one strip at a time, so as to insure that theblade edge will not come into contact with the metal shell of theroller. V

The advantages gained by this particular construction ofv the rollerreside in the ease with which the abrasive strips may be inserted orchangedif necessary. The chief advantage, however, resides in theinsurance of the blade edge making perfect contact with the abrasivethroughout its length, regardless of irregularities in the surface ofthe roller, inaccuracies of manufacture, changesof alignment due toaccident and like incidents which are practically unavoidable by anyother construction.

When the parts are assembled in the frame, the roller axis is parallelwith the axial lines about which both the guard and blade holder pivotand the shaft 34 is provided at one end with a pinion gear 36 fixedthereon. This meshes with an idler gear 40 mounted by a stud 41 on thejaw 4 and which, in turn, is in mesh with the gear 9 on the arm 13b.This provides that rotation of the shaft in" opposite direction byreason of rolling the roller in opposite directions upon a surface, willthrough this gear train cause the blade holder to be actuated about itsmounting pivots to bring opposite .edges of the blade into contact withthe roller for sharpening, as shown by dotted circle 5a and dottedblades 5b and 5c in Fig. 2. A belt connection may be substituted for thegears. The friction between the blade and roller may be increased bymagnetizing the roller shell.

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' Assuming that the various parts are so con- 139 structed and have beenassembled as described, and should it be desired to sharpen the bladeWithin the razor, the guard is adjusted away from the holder by pressingdownwardly on the thumb piece 23, thereby adjusting the guard outwardlyto the position in which it is shown in Figure 1, and to the positionshown in'dotted lines in Figure 2. The roller 30 is then caused to berolled back and forth-over any suitable surface, preferably upon thepalm of the hand, and as the sharpening roller thus rotates, thefriction between it and its mounting shaft causes the shaft to 1'0- tateaccordingly, and by means of the gear train the blade holder assembly isturned on its pivotal mounting until the blade edge rests against theroller in position for sharpening. As the roller continues to revolve,the friction between "it anditsshaft holds' the blade tightly againstits l lo

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sureof'the roller againstthe surface upon which it is being rolled andthe tension of the spring metal roller on the shaft. Then by reversingthe direction of movement of the roller, the blade assembly will beturned to the opposite side of the roller and the sharpening of theother side of the blade edge will be effected in a like manner. It isevident that the blade assembly may be reversed and also presseddirectly against the roller by the fingers.

When used for shaving, the blade assembly is turned to the full lineposition shown in Fig. 2 and the guard is moved inwardly into contactwith it so that the edge of the blade rests against the toothed edge ofthe guard. The guard is then held securely in position by theinterlocking of the projections 12 and 12a of the blade holding arms13a-13b within the notches or recesses 240 provided in the ends of theguard, and by the latch 23.

When the razor is not in use the edge of the .blade may be protected byturning the holder to aposition at which the blade edge will rest on theside of the roller which is adjacent the base of the frame, see dottedblade 5c, Fig. 2, and then pushing the guard forwardly until the toothededge comes into contact with the pointed ends of the frame. In thisposition the blade is covered and is protected between the roller andthe frame and beneath the guard. Since the projections 24a of the guardprevent the guard resting against the blade, there will be a slightmovement of the blade holder permissible, and

this permits the blade to lift away from the roller in case ofaccidental turning of the roller, and this avoids accidental cutting ofthe abrasive strips.

' thumb may be placed on the central portion thereof 1%, the latter ispressed downwardly and in this way the outer jaw of the holder is movedaway from the blade and the blade is released and unseated from theprojections 11 on the arms. When thus released, it may be withdrawn fromthe holder. While the jaw is thus held in its depressed position, a newblade may be inserted and on releasing the holder the latter will clampthe blade tightly between the outer jaw and pivot jaw of the holder withits studs and thus hold it securely.

In Fig. 6 is shown an end view as well as illustrating an alternativeform of construction and method of rotating the roller in bothdirections. This is done by looping a tautly drawn core 40 about a drum41 secured to an extended mounting hub 42 at that end of the roller 30and then drawing the razor back and forth along the cord. In Fig. 7 wehave shown the hub 42 of the roller as being extended revolubly throughaside frame member 4a and the shaft 34 terminating within the hub. Otherforms may be used such as a guard made a part of the frame and the bladeholder moved back and forth in openings in the frame to shaving orsharpening position.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new therein andon which Letters- Patent are desired is- 1. In a razor, a frame and ablade holding clip comprising opposite face portions connected toreleasably grip a blade between them; one face portion being yieldableand having supporting connection with the frame for mounting the clipand adapted by application of pressure thereagainst in opposition tosaid supporting connection to be sprung to release the blade for removalfrom the clip.

2. In a razor, spaced frame members, a blade holding clip comprisingspaced opposite face portions rigidly connected at one edge of the clipat a medial point and a blade disposed between said face portions; theopposite ends of one face por tion normally pressing inwardly againstthe blade to retain it functionally within the clip, and including meanscoacting with the spaced frame members to mount the clip, and providingsupports whereby the said yieldable ends will be sprung away from theopposite face of the clip to release the blade when inward pressure isapplied against that face of the clip.

3. In a razor, spaced frame members, a blade holding clip comprisingconnected opposite face portions arranged to receive a blade betweenthem, a blade having end notches removably disposed between the saidface portions; one face portion of said clip comprising yieldableopposite end portions normally pressing inwardly against the blade andhaving lateral projections seated in the blade notches to hold the bladefunctionally in the clip, trunnions at the ends of the said yieldableend portions mounted in said frame members and adapted to sustain thesaid yieldable portions when pressure is applied against the clipthereby to spring the said portions away from the opposite face of theclip and away from the blade to release it from said lateral projectionsfor removal from the clip.

4. In a razor of the class described, a frame, a blade holding clipcomprising a plate folded upon itself to provide opposed face portionsadapted to receive a blade between them, a blade removably applied tothe clip having end notches; one face portion of the clip beingpartially severed from the plate to provide a central connection andoppositely extending arms pressing inwardly against opposite ends of theblade to hold it seated against the opposite face portion of the clip,means at the ends of the said arms mounting the clip in the frame andprojections on the ends of the arms disposed in the notches of the bladeto retain it against displacement; said arms being outwardly yieldableto release the blade by pressure inwardly against the central portion ofthe 6 D.

5. In a razor of the class described, a frame, a blade holder mounted inthe frame, a blade mounted by the holder, an abrasive roller in theframe against which the blade may be adjusted for sharpening, a guardand yieldable means for pressing it against the blade holder to retainthe blade in shaving position; or with the blade edge in a protectedposition between the roller and guard; and means on the guard engageablewith the frame to withhold it from contact against the holder while theblade is in protected position to permit a limited freedom of movementof the holder.

PAUL COOK. PAUL P. COOK.

